Read time: 5 minutes | Forward to a friend A few years ago, I watched a colleague work himself into exhaustion becoming the only person who understood our department's most critical system. He thought he was building job security. What he actually built was a prison. When a promotion opened up, leadership passed him over—they couldn't afford to move him. Meanwhile, I'd spent a decade doing the...

Read time: 5 minutes | Forward to a friend You've heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the practice of structuring web content to rank high in Google searches. More recently, you may have encountered GEO or AEO (Generative Engine Optimization or AI Engine Optimization), optimizing content so AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude reference it. But there's a third optimization you've proba...

Read time: 4 minutes | Forward to a friend   A year ago, I wasn't sure this community would exist. The Professional Independence Academy was an idea... a conviction that professionals deserved more than hoping their employer would keep them around. That we could build careers that thrive regardless of what any single company decides. Today, I'm writing to so many of you. How did we get here? Y...